Heather Huffman's Blog, page 21

I blinked

Sometimes I’m awed by how quickly things can change. It feels like I blinked and went from a place of uncertainty to being thrilled with our new home. The house isn’t much to look at and the land needs a lot of work, but we haven’t even finished moving in and I already feel more at home there than I ever did at the farm we were renting – even if most people would consider it the nicer place.

Money’s tight from the move, every muscle in my body aches, and I occasionally get a skosh overwhelmed by all there is to be done, but I’m also filled with this inexplicable peace and contentment. This past few weeks has been a good reminder for me that no matter how big an obstacle might seem or how how scary a problem is, in the blink of an eye, everything can change for the better.

If I’m not around much this week, it’s because I’m busy building chicken coops out of old wood pallets. Or maybe it would be more appropriate to call them chicken condos. Either way, I’ll post pics when I’m done.

And I’ll also be busy loving on my goats, ’cause they’re cute and I can.

 

Envisioning Summer Gardens

I realize that tulips are a spring flower, but I just spent an obscene amount of time trying to find a decent picture to go here, so tulips it is…

Every year without fail, I eagerly await the arrival of the updated seed catalogs. I can spend hours poring over them, daydreaming about summer gardens. Of course, the garden never quit turns out the way I envisioned – usually because I’m too busy to tend it properly – but that never stops me from watching the mailbox the next February.

This year, I decided to go with heirloom seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds so I can, in theory, save seeds from my harvest for next year. Then I can order different plants next year to expand my garden. (It’s mind blowing how many seeds they have to choose from – you should totally check them out.)

I found this cool article on how to wrap your own seed pots using recycled newspaper and decided to give it a try.

I knew the red wine would eventually be useful for something…

The sunniest, safest location for the seedlings is also a tad chilly because winter has apparently decided to use every last minute of its allotted time, so I put one of the chick brooder lights on my precious seeds.

I think Adam was a little relieved to see me put the brooder light on something that won’t up our feed bill for a change. Heck, it might actually lower it. I know; that’s crazy talk.

Then came the waiting. Watching dirt do nothing day in and day out has convinced me that planting seeds is about like hatching eggs and even chasing dreams – there’s only so much you can do and no amount of staring at dirt, eggs or sales rankings will achieve the desired result. Sometimes we just have to be patient. (To which I say bah.)

But then, just when I’m about to give up hope…

I admit, I kinda dorked out at the first sign of green.

And once the first brave plant decides to peek through the soil, others soon follow suit. Before I know it, my faith in planting seeds has been restored and I’m eagerly envisioning summer gardens again.

I’ve never tried lemon cucumbers before, but they seem to be thriving, so I hope I like them.

 

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This time around…

I’ve decided that this move, no matter how tempting it is, I’m not hanging my “Family” collage frame until I’ve actually filled it with pictures of my own family.

That’s right. I don’t know any of these people, and they’ve been hanging on my wall for a year now. They’re a very attractive family, though.

Looking for a Publisher?

I’m often asked for advice by aspiring authors. One of these days, I’ll get around to posting my entire answer on the blog so I can point people to it when the question comes up, but today I want to address one specific aspect of my advice, finding a publisher.

The way I see it, there are three paths to publication in the current marketplace: Getting an agent and trying to get your book signed by a big publishing house, going indie, and finding a small publisher. Having stuck my toe in the water with all three options, I’ve found that for me, a small publisher is the best fit. There are definitely advantages and disadvantages to all three methods, but the advantages to the small publisher happen to be the ones that matter most to me. Things like retaining control of my work and being able to write something a little different from the currently popular formulas are crucial in my mind.

If you find yourself in the same boat as me, preferring a small publisher, then I have good news for you! My publisher, Booktrope, has recently opened for submissions. Since they do everything else their own way, they’re going about the submission process a little differently, too. Learn about their submission process here: http://authors.booktrope.com/reserve/.

I’ve been with Booktrope for almost two years now. In that time, I’ve seen them grow and learn and accomplish great things. I, for one, am excited to see what’s next for them. Opening for submissions and expanding their library is the beginning of something extraordinary.

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Super Teachers

A little over a week ago, I spoke to the 8th grade Social Studies classes at the school where my sister Angie teaches. I have to admit, I have a love/hate relationship with these speaking engagements. On the one hand, I’m thrilled to be spreading the word about slavery to a group of people with the energy and will to fight this evil among us. When I’m speaking in schools, I’m talking to an age group who is at great risk for being trafficked, yet they have no idea how vulnerable they are. So I’m always thankful when I get to give school talks.

But there’s also this part of me that is a bit of a hermit. For several reasons, it never fails that leading up to a talk, I begin to dread it – even though I know it’s a good thing and I’ll be glad I went once I’m there.

For the second year in a row, I’ve walked away from that particular day of talks with one thing strongly impressed upon me: My sister is amazing at her job. I can’t even begin to fathom having that kind of daily impact for good. She touches so many lives and is a light shining brightly in a dark world.

I also can’t begin to fathom the energy she possesses to teach at the level she does day in and day out. Angie is definitely not a sit-behind-the-desk kind of teacher. She’s one of the Super Teachers, out there actively engaged with her students every single hour. She knows the kids – really knows them – and she doesn’t miss a thing, from birthdays to clues that something isn’t quite right with one of her students.

So today is a verbal salute to my sister and every teacher out there like her. Thank you for being who you are and for doing what you do. You make the world a better place.

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Guest at Laurie’s Non-paranormal Thoughts and Reviews

Many thanks to Laurie over at Laurie’s Non-Paranormal Thoughts and Reviews for having me as a guest over at her blog. Stop by to check out the interview!

 

Farm Update

I have been completely humbled and overwhelmed by the outpouring of kindness, encouragement and well wishes since I posted about having to leave our beloved little homestead. Each and every act of kindness will be forever treasured in my heart – thank you all.

So many people jumped in to help us look for a new place, others offered encouragement, and others came alongside us in prayer as we sought the next step in our family’s journey.

The first day I found out we had to move, I kind of panicked. Rather than freak the kids out any more than they already were, I took the dogs on a walk where I could work things out as vocally as I needed to with only God and my dogs to see. It was on that walk that I could feel God telling me, “Calm down. I’ve got this. You should know that by now.”

We didn’t have to wait long to find out God wasn’t kidding when He assured me He had something in store for us.

Thanks to our amazing next door neighbors, who were a big part of the reason we were so sad to move, we found a place across the street we didn’t even know was listed. Heck, we didn’t really even know it was there because it sits so far off the road. (Which is a definite plus in our book.)

Long story short, we are moving across the street to a place with three more acres that costs less money than our current home. The house isn’t as nice, but it’s a good blank slate. I have so many ideas for ways to fix it up; I can’t wait to get started!

We get the keys on March 1st and will begin the process of moving our farm across the street. Thankfully, we have a couple of months to complete the transition.

Short term, I have a lot of work ahead of me. Long term, the new place is exactly what we were initially looking for and a much better fit for our family.

Again, thank you all for being so awesome. I’m grateful for each of you!

Shoeshine and Po snuggled up with Snickers and Goatsy. They don’t know it yet, but they’re pretty excited about the new place, too. They’re about to get a lot more room to run!

 

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Books are Magic

Many thanks to Vidya over at Books are Magic for hosting an interview and giveaway for Roses in Ecuador. Stop by when you have a chance!

 

Hold on tight

I’m not sure why, but I spent a lot of time Saturday morning thinking about how far my family has come in a year. In early 2012, we were facing the knowledge that after my son’s accident in 2011 and the resulting loss in income when I left my job to care for him, we could no longer afford our house. The grim reality was that if we didn’t sell the house, we were going to lose it. By that time, I’d signed with Booktrope, but book sales didn’t even come close to what I was making in my corporate job.

So we put the house on the market and prayed for the best, deciding it was time to take the plunge and move back to the Ozarks. The house sold in record time despite the economy, we found an amazing little farm to rent, and moved from a time of great tumult in our lives into a period of peace and blessing.

In the eight months we’ve lived on this farm, we’ve gone from being suburbanites who dabbled in gardening, foraging and chickens to being incredibly close to our dream of self-sufficiency. We’ve battled the worst drought in a century, learned to build chicken coops, provide our own meat, raise pigs and goats, incubate chickens, string fence… the list goes on. We’ve come so far this year. I’m overwhelmed by how God has blessed us by leading us to this little Missouri town.

As I was writing this post in my head on Saturday, I got the news our landlord has decided to sell our home. We’re in no position to buy a place yet. We’re closer than we were a year ago, but we’re not there yet. So we have to leave our beloved farm.

I’ll be honest – I spent a lot of time crying on Saturday. Then I took the dogs for our daily walk to my favorite place in the whole world, the creek that runs along the back of the property. I had a few words with God. It didn’t seem fair. Didn’t He know I was tired and ready to sink down some roots? What about the seeds I just ordered? Didn’t God know I had a garden planned, or that I’d literally just finished making arrangements to get my alpacas back? (The same alpacas I’d had to give up after Blake’s accident – I’d been ecstatic when I’d gotten the email asking if I could take them back.)

After the tears, after the rant at God, I did what I’d expect a heroine in one of my books to do: I pulled myself together and clung a little tighter to my faith that it’ll all work out in the end.

So, instead of planning the garden, I’m once again house hunting and packing boxes. We’ve promised the boys to leave no stone unturned in trying to find a farm to rent in the same school district. All I know is the last time I faced this uncertainty it worked out better than I ever could have hoped.  Maybe God just knows my building skills and He’s helping me find a place with a barn already on it this time.

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A day of fun at THESUBCLUBbooks

I can’t thank the wonderful ladies over at THESUBCLUBbooks enough for inviting me to be part of a fun-filled day on their blog.

Check in more than once because new posts will be releasing throughout the day, starting with a great review of Roses in Ecuador!